China’s official figures may be underestimating the extent of local government
indebtedness by as much as £1 trillion, a former finance minister has warned.

Xiang Huaicheng told delegates at the annual Boao Forum that, unlike the
relatively transparent finances of China’s central government, the extent of
leverage among the 10,000 financing vehicles operating on behalf of local
governments was opaque and difficult to calculate.

Admitting that the estimates were the result of his own private calculations,
Mr Xiang said that local governments may have amassed more than 20 trillion
yuan (£2.1 trillion) of debt — almost twice the most recent 10.7